dave said:
Certainly our beef has much, much more flavor than the store bought stuff. Those are finished on corn, standing in a filthy feed lot covered in mud, with no grass or anything else to eat but just corn.
Our cows get a hugely varied diet and I am certain that contributes to the much stronger (and better) flavor.
And not just flavor, but I would have to think nutrition as well... like a garden fed with good compost.
A lot of cultural differences affect what animals are used for meat -- cows are sacred in India, dogs are a common food item in some countries, and so on. As far as things like bison, pheasant and the like, if no one in the area is raising them, then you likely won't see them in the market. In regard to oxen, it's my understanding that an ox is just an older steer (castrated bull calf); most steers are butchered by the time they're 2 years old, I believe.
Many people that grew up here in the UP were raised mainly on venison; my ex was raised on a small dairy farm but they almost never had beef, just deer meat - the cattle were sold or used as replacements for the dairy herd.
